1. Technical Field
The invention disclosed broadly relates to information processing and more particularly relates to improvements in text processing.
2. Background Art
Test processing and word processing systems have been developed for both stand-alone applications and distributed processing applications. The terms text processing and word processing will be used interchangeably herein to refer to data processing systems primarily used for the creation, editing, communication and/or printing of alphanumeric character strings composing written text. A particular distributed processing system for word processing is disclosed in the copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 781,862, filed Sept. 30, 1985, entitled "Multilingual Processing for Screen Image Build and Command Decode in a Word Processor, with Full Command, Message and Help Support," by K. W. Borgendale, et al. The figures and specification of the Borgendale, et al. patent application are incorporated herein by reference, as an example of a host system within which the subject invention herein can be applied.
In the prior art, the operator sits at a keyboard and enters commands and text which are stored in the processor's memory. The processor's memory contains stored program instructions for carrying out the word processing functions and also contains a working area for processing the text entered by the operator. As the text is entered at the keyboard, it is displayed on a cathode ray tube-type display device at a sequentially advancing text cursor position. Commands are typically entered by either pressing a command function-key which has been preprogrammed to initiate a particular command function, or alternately the operator directs the cursor which is displayed on the diplay screen, into a command line area. When the cursor enters the command line area, any characters typed at the keyboard are interpreted by the word processing system as a command and the system will respond by performing the indicated command function. In the prior art, the command line is a stationary area located at either the bottom of the display screen or at the top of the display screen. The location of the command line at either the upper or lower extremity of the display screen causes the operator to change his location of concentration from the text which he is creating at the text cursor position, to either the upper or the lower extremity of the display. This creates an interruption in the operator's attention, which is an undesirable result. Still further, after the word processing system has completed the execution of the command entered by the operator, the operator may be required to redirect the cursor to the previous position within the text which was left at the time the command was entered on the command line. This is still another disadvantage since it imposes a number of inconvenient steps which must be carried out by the operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,331 to Amezcua, et al. describes a mechanism for sharing a status line between foreground and background tasks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,603 to McCaskill, et al. provides predefined fields for entering data into structured records. U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,592 to Cason, et al. provides a prompt area for prompting the user to supply a complete data input. But none of this prior art recognizes or solves the problem of disrupting the operator's attention by requiring the entry of command words displayed at command line locations on the upper or lower extremity of the display screen.